Exploring new ways of seeing, new ways of being with an open heart and an open mind

Monday, August 22, 2011

Picasso's Mandolin

The other day, Old Jules left a comment that included the title of a Guy Clark song I was unfamiliar with, so I looked it up and found a great video. I love the song and the images to go with it. Pablo seems to be swirling around in my head these days, for an undetermined reason.

Sometime back in the spring of 1980, I hornswoggled my then boyfriend, George, who later had the misfortune of becoming my second husband, into going to Minneapolis to catch the Picasso exhibit at the Walker Art Center. His somewhat tongue-in-cheek response to my request? "He makes funny guitars." But, we went anyway, with the promise that the weekend would include other activities. Turns out, he actually enjoyed it. He told me so.

Along with seeing a great bunch of paintings and feeling a part of the Bigger Picture by being there, I scored a Picasso T-shirt. By scored, I do mean purchased. Shortly after our return, in a matter of days, the Picasso family legally stopped production. Apparently, the company producing them didn't ask permission for misusing his name on something as lowbrow as a T-shirt. This morning, I took it out of the box of memorabilia where it's been languishing, took pictures, and decided to show it to you. What the hey. I've thought about framing it, but then I wouldn't see the back, so it's going on a hanger in the hallway, next to my handbag collection. Here it is, wrinkles and all. And smaller than I remember. How did That happen?

26 comments:

Oh I love this post, a wonderful way to start my day. Love the tune and Picasso is one of my loves. It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child. ~ Pablo Picasso. Just wonderful.

Thoughts of mandolins always take me back to both of my parents playing a bowl shaped mandolin - lovely memories.

Isn't it amazing how things shrink if they have been put away for a while!

Also I love the word hornswoggled - never heard of it before and had to google it. I shall have to fit it into my vocab now ;-)

Grethe, There's a saying, "The eyes have it." They do tell so much about a person. You can see that love of life, or ongoing curiosity about it, through the eyes. Yes, Hemingway had beautiful eyes, too. I suppose there's been books written about this. I agree with your first point, too. Not sympathetic. And, apparently, not very honorable in his human relationships. I hope my teasing wasn't too much. ;)

J, Good Morning, I'm enjoying your blog. so glad I found it through One Fly.

Oh I need to check out a book from the library on Picasso to see more of his paintings, his famous ones are shown so often, nice to see something different here. that exhibit must have been something. I have a t shirt from my landscaping company and it is really small and has never been worn, must be all the moving we have done that has caused it to shrink. Ha.

Michael, Thank you so much for sending the link to that treasure trove. Rumi, Rilke, Hafiz. Mary, Wendell and Billy. Ted, Anne, and Stanley. And so many others I absolutely Love. My Lord, that's just outstanding. Thank You for thinking of me!

Teresa, I went to that Picasso exhibit, too. I loved it. Had a poster from it in my office for a long time, but didn't buy a t-shirt. You have a collector's item there. (I think we wore t-shirts tighter back in the day. In the late '80s I began to buy XXL all the time.)